LEC3.1

advertisement
Key Terms
Chords
Harmonized
Harmony
Consonance
Dissonance
Resolution
Resolved
Harmony
Prominent feature of Western tradition
The vertical aspect of music
The result of two or more pitches heard
simultaneously
We often hear a melody with other sounds
• Folk singer accompanied by guitar
• Congregation accompanied by organ, piano, or
guitars
• Solo instrument accompanied by combo or
orchestra
Chords
Groupings of simultaneous pitches
Triad
• The most basic chord, only three pitches
• To construct a triad on scale step 1, start on do
and add every other scale step until you have
three notes (or use C major scale)
 do (re) mi (fa) sol or do-mi-sol
 C (D) E (F) G or C - E - G
• Can be built on any note of a scale
• Most commonly built on scale steps 1 and 5
Chords
Many ways to vary a chord’s weight, color,
richness, or mood
•
•
•
•
•
Simple chord with just three notes
In high, medium, or low registers
With different chord tones in the bass
With notes doubled in many octaves
With “broken” figuration
 Arpeggios or “oom-pah-pah”
Any combination of C-E-G is still a C major
chord
Harmonizing
Adding pitches and chords around a
melody to create harmony
In group singing, some singers will “sing
harmony” by adding a descant or bass line
Arrangers harmonize melodies by adding a
series of chords that fit with the melody
A series of chords is called a chord
progression
Chord Progressions
Some scale tones sound more stable than
others
• 1, 3, and 5 sound stable
• 2, 4, and especially 7 sound unstable
Chords are only as stable as the chord
tones they contain
• The chord built on scale step 1 (tonic: contains
1, 3, and 5) sounds most stable of all
• Chords that contain scale step 7 (built on steps
5 or 7) sound least stable
Chord Progressions
Chord progressions use a mix of stable
and unstable chords to create tension and
release
Chords help create different shades of
finality at cadences
• The strongest cadences end on tonic
• Weaker, less conclusive cadences end on other
chords
Consonance and Dissonance
Consonance
Chords or intervals that sound pleasing or
“at rest”
• Octaves, sixths, fifths, and thirds usually
sound consonant
• Chords that contain these intervals (most
simple triads do) sound consonant
Consonance and Dissonance
Dissonance
Intervals, chords, or other pitch
combinations that sound unpleasant or
discordant or that create tension
• Whole steps, tritones, sevenths, and especially
half steps sound dissonant
• “Tall” or nonstandard chords that contain
these intervals sound dissonant
Dissonance can be mild or sharp
Dissonance creates a desire to resolve
Harmony Listening
Things to listen for:
Stability and instability
Tension and release
Consonance, dissonance, and resolution
Download